LaGuardia’s “Lesson” Forum

Troy Davis’s Execution Delayed Again (Phew)

I get tired of updating this case, but this is better than Monday’s update would have been without this ruling. I was struck by how much vengeance (“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”) the poor McPhail family means to them. I pray I am never so struck with pain that I seek the death of another to relieve my loss.

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal appeals court gave a late reprieve Friday to a Georgia man set to be executed for the 1989 killing of an off-duty police officer in a case in which several witnesses have changed their accounts of the crime.

Troy Davis, 40, was scheduled to be executed Monday for the murder of Savannah Police Officer Mark MacPhail. But the three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the execution and ordered his attorneys to prove whether he can meet ”stringent requirements” to press his appeal.

Davis’ supporters have called for a new trial because seven of the nine key witnesses against him have recanted their testimony, and the doubts about his guilt have won him the support of former President Jimmy Carter and other prominent advocates.

It was the third time since July 2007 that Davis has been spared the death penalty by a late court decision.

About Lesson B4

This is a forum where LaGuardia Students, Faculty and Staff can discuss this year’s Common Reading Ernest J. Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying. This is a place where you can “shout-out” your response to the novel or any of the ideas that the text raises. There will be occasional “prompts” posted to spark discussion, however this should be seen as a place where any and all can raise any issue they want. Please participate by entering a “comment” below the post that interests you. You can explore previous individual blog posts below to the left or here.(If someone wants to suggest a prompt they can email me their request by clicking the “prompt” above or sending it to <sgregoire-at-lagcc.cuny.edu>.)